Taking the leap

My shop name is eclectica. Basically meaning I'll sell anything that I find that I think is cool or can bring a smile to someone's face. But I'm beginning to think I need to train my eye to look for eclectic things that follow a certain flow. Right now when I look at my spot in the antiques center it's a little too eclectic. Almost pre-hoarder. So the last few weeks I decided to try something new. It's time for me to go up a level in the quality of items I'm purchasing- which means I need to be willing to lay more money down.

Yesterday was a marathon auction day. We went to 2- which is 1 too many for my blood. I love them but a person can only sit in a folding chair for so many hours before said person is no longer in the best of moods.

Needless to say I was invested and knew we were staying til the bitter end. The first lots I bid on were quite popular and even though I really knew I needed to up the ante I shied away letting others buy the item. Finally after this was the trend for the first hour or two a lot of antique stoneware jugs came up. I bid and kept bidding until I was the winner (the $ wasn't crazy high- just high for my blood). I knew I could make money on it and yet I was still worried since I spent more than normal. Why was I worrying? I had a quick realization that I'm cheap! Plus I'm new at this so I tend to second guess myself. But I know that to be a success this is something I needed to do. I don't want to deal just in junktiques. I want eye candy that will draw people to my shop! If I can buy higher end items that sell for more its less inventory that I need to process to make a buck as well. At least that's my logic this week.

I'm learning the ropes and the way of the auction is still new to me. But I'm having a blast doing this and I'm learning so much. I'll keep posting my thoughts, opinions, and mess ups here.

Setting up shop

So as I mentioned a few weeks back I was tiring of my retail job, and I needed to take this vintage and antique business up a notch. My house was quickly overfilling with unique items that I loved, but didn't have room for. I decided to look into the antique mall situation around me. I wasn't sure quite what I wanted to do- consign, sell to a dealer, keep everything online- or set up a little corner in an antiques mall. As of right now I decided to do some things online (etsy & ebay), and set up shop in an antiques mall for other items.

After googling my different options I found a quaint little town somewhat near me that is known to be an antiquing hot spot. I took a little day trip to the town and looked at the multitude of galleries on the Main strip. Since I'm just getting started I didn't want to go with a super fancy almost snobby type of store. Most that I went in to were extremely cluttered and the staff were mediocre to snooty. But then I went into an eclectic and laid back little shop that held my interest for over an hour. I bought a lot of vintage clothing and costume jewelry, and the elderly gentleman that was at the cashier looked like a modern Mark Twain. I felt super comfortable asking him questions. And he was quirky and funny and very nice. I took one of their business cards, as I did from a few other shops. I contacted the owners of a few of the shops in the town, and the only one that had an immediate opening was the shop I liked best!

This was the point I had to decide if setting up shop was for me. I did a lot of on-line research and I talked to a few fellow dealers at the shop. It didn't sound like a cake walk, but it sounded like a good learning experience. So I jumped on in. Most shops charge a monthly stall rent, along with a commission on top of everything that you sell. The shop I went with charged the monthly rent, plus 10% commission, and they charge 3% for any sales made by credit card. But they handle all the sales tax mumbo jumbo. You want to make sure that you take this all into consideration when you are pricing your items. Plus keep in mind most places will give a cash discount to customers.

After putting a deposit down, I rented a cargo van and enlisted the help of my brother to help me move my stuff into the shop. It went pretty smoothly. I would like to get some better shelving, and a locking cabinet for higher end items. But I'm sure that will all come with time. Up top is a photo of my spot right after we set it up. I will try my best to keep posting what I learn from my shop and any helpful tips for other new dealers out there!

WORK

So I've been not the happiest at my real job the last few months. Just a lot of stress for no good reason. I really want to get back to volunteering on a full-time basis and my hubby is telling me to go for it. Plus if I don't work that would give me my Sundays off to go to flea markets!!! I never get to go to them since they are always on Sundays and I always work on Sundays. Flea markets can have amazing finds. Plus if you collect too many items you can set up your own stall and sell it off again. I might need to try this myself soon. If I do I'll let you know how it all works. If only I could retire at 32 :)

Estate sales

A valuable life lesson learned...

Recently my hubby and I were out and about searching for lovelies at yard sales. We came across a sign for an estate sale down a windy cliff lined road. We of course decided to check it out. As we passed the house not knowing where to park I took a long look at what seemed to me a somewhat scary situation. The house was ancient and looked as if it might slide down the cliff it was built upon at any moment. Also there was trash strewn all over the place. The 3 ladies standing on the porch were also staring me down. One was sitting cross legged and pounding a drum. Needless to say my first instinct was to keep driving. This place is probably full of mice and bedbugs. But then I told myself buck up lady, and I told my hubby the same.

We parked and went in. There was no electricity so thank goodness we have iPhones with flashlight apps. We slowly perused the items that were for sale, mind you this house looked like it hadn't been touched since 1965. They said everything was for sale, and nothing was priced. At first glance I was a little overwhelmed because there was piles upon piles of items. Some things had been set out. I first looked through all the glass and porcelain, picking out a few milk glass items. I then spotted a few other collectibles that I wanted to add to my stash. I asked their prices and they seemed reasonable, so I kept searching. As I walked up the rickety stair case praying that I wouldn't be the catalyst to make the house crash to it's foundation, the lady searching through the upstairs screamed because she found a dead mouse in a dresser drawer. That's when I knew this was a treasure trove.

I went through the bedrooms looking at the many items of costume jewelry that were lying about. I picked up a few pieces, and one ring had another ring that was entangled with it. I got them apart and that's how I found the beautiful piece you see above. It's a 14k white gold art deco style ring, with real diamonds and a giant beautifully cut synthetic ruby. My heart started pounding. I added it to my costume jewelry finds and went to ask the lady for prices. She had no idea what she had so I bought everything as it was priced. Needless to say I walked outta there with excitement boiling over. I had to get the ring appraised!

I went to my local jeweler in town and he said he thinks it's from the 1940s to 1950s and that besides the ruby everything is real. I almost jumped for joy.

So the lesson to be learned is that the best treasures can come from the least likely places. An average person with normal tendencies to run away from the strange house on the cliff with no electricity and the eccentric ladies out front would have missed out on this amazing find. Plus the lady playing the drum said we could come back anytime and hang.

Getting Old

This is my hubby and I. We are goofs. We have done a lot of things together in the past 12 years... but our new favorite is to go treasure hunting. I never thought I would be the type of person (old) that enjoys sitting at an estate auction for 7 hours straight bidding on ancient items. But I guess I am.

It amazes me how many people have never been to an auction. At first I was intimidated, but then I realized fake it til you make it baby. I told myself "I watch Auction Kings, I can figure this out." I have to admit before we went I did a google search on what not to do at an auction, mainly because I didn't have a million dollars to buy stuff every time I sneezed. But it really was not hard at all.

Our auction began at 5:30pm but there was a showing of all the items beforehand. So we went early and took notes on the items we liked. Most things I adored went for lots of money, but I noticed as the night went on the auctioneer just wanted to finish. So the prices definitely started dropping. A lot of people leave after a few hours too, so we really like the later hours of an auction. Our first auction we purchased an original oil painting for $45- the artist is not famous- and a bright red modern console table for $10. They easily could be sold for way more. Being patient paid off.

The last auction we went to I bought a vintage butcher block for $15 and a gothic cast iron light fixture for $25. Most auction houses add a hammer fee on the items along with sales tax. So keep that in mind before you bid, especially on higher priced items. Our favorite place adds 18% on top plus the 8% sales tax. If you pay cash they lower the hammer fee to 15%. So find a local auction and try it out. It might be your new favorite past time.